Home of Richard Mitchell – XPO Game Festival Project Lead & Head of Tulsa Game Developers – Working to boost Tulsa, OK's tech & game dev industries. Former Reviews Editor at Joystiq (RIP). Member of the Oregon Trail Generation.

Of Guitars and Comments

Alrighty. Thanksgiving is over. For some, it’s a depressing time. For others, it’s a relief. For me, it’s a bit of both. I won’t go into the details, but suffice it to say that Thanksgiving can be trying at times. Mostly though, Thanksgiving was great. I proselytized my wife’s family, showing them the wonders of the Wii. They liked it. They really liked it.

In other news, you may have heard over at X3F that I’ve begun a quest. My quest is this: I am going to learn to play a real song on a real guitar before I allow myself to purchase Rock Band. I would describe my progress as swift, except for the fact that I really have no basis to make such statements. All I know is that I’ve learned a lot of chords and my fingers fucking hurt. Initially, I had intended to learn “The Swimming Song” by Loudon Wainwright III. He’s an excellent singer songwriter and I’ve loved his music for years now. Whilst learning my chords and whatnot, I unwittingly uncovered the chord progression for another of his songs, “The Man Who Couldn’t Cry.” That one may actually be familiar to you, as Johnny Cash covered it a few years back (note the video above). A lot of people actually think it is a Johnny Cash song, so you can blow their minds with the real truth the next time someone starts spouting lies.

Anywho, I’ve decided to concentrate on “The Man Who Couldn’t Cry” as it’s a little simpler and one of my favorites. I love “The Swimming Song” as well, but I prefer a slower recording that I can’t find the chords for anywhere.

And there you have it. I’m really digging guitar and I’m looking forward to getting better at it. I’m a bit worried that it’s going to cut into my game time. I’m also a bit worried that I’m worried about that. Priorities and all that.

Finally, thanks to Eric for pointing out that my comments were defaulted to “off.” I fixed that, so comment away if you wish. And thanks to JaySlacks for sticking my blog on his blogroll. Been a long time since I cared about the incoming traffic here :)

3 Replies to “Of Guitars and Comments”

It’s awesome you’re learning the guitar. I’ve tried and quit so many times (not to discourage you). I play piano, so it’s frustrating to see the chords in the guitar music and not be able to play them. Anyway, good luck on your quest, Rock Band is definitely worth it.

And please accept my friend request already (diehard742). I’ll even let you play drums when you get Rock Band.

I’m sad to say, but I’ve been playing guitar for 13 years, and I’d still rather play Guitar Hero or Rock Band. I play the bass, do vocals, and a little drumming as well. But I’ve had my short bits of local “rockstardom” a few times in different bands so it wore me a little thin. If you ever get into writing music though, it sticks with you forever.

Admittedly, the new GH3 guitar made me want to buy a real Les Paul. I’ve always wanted one, but I’ve always been the bass player in my bands so there was no need. ;)

Good Luck! It looks like I’m missing so much in the gaming world now that work has sunk it’s fangs into my existence. I’ve been lost without Google Reader at work. LOL